The Portland daily press., 1887-02-24
HEALTH AND DISEASE.
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.l
were taken by the neighborhood, there hay'
as yet been no other cases.

were taken Dy tne nelgnDOrnOOu, IneIc nave
as yet been no other cases.
DnHTHERIA AT EAST MADISON.
In the outbreak at East Madison last July,
it was not possible for DIR. Young to trace
the econtagion so completely as at Aliens
Corner But he is convinced that there con-
tagion played principal part. There was
mill pond where the water became low dur
ing the night, leaving bare muddy bottom
from whence offensive smells arose. This
mill pond may have been factor in bring
ing about the epidemic. Then Dr. Young
says;
"The general sanitary condition Of the vii
lage was like what can be found IN most
New England villages which have given no
special attention to health matters. Inc OBJ
jecti0nable accumulatiye prlyy system was
in vogue and generally badly neglected as
usual. Sink drainage was badly managed in
many cases, and in one case passed danger
ously near the well. In another case the
well from which the water was SAID TO be
good was so situated that It must necessarily
receive the soakage from the stable and 9th
er outbuildings; in another case,, a neigh
boris stable and pig pen was only nye feet
from the dining room window.
There had been diphUheria at Skowhegan,
and woman of East Madison who had been
at work there in a hotel had come home sick
with a sore throat Here was possible
chance for the beginning of the contagion
At the time of DR.. Young's visit he found
there had been eight deaths in eight different
families. He gave directions for the effective
treatment of the outbreak, and the citizens
at once took active measures. The result of
this is set forth as follows in the report:
"In the village there were several stores.
ora1 in nil Dc -
people of the village were in the habit Of
c0ngregatlng outside of working hours. In
one of these stores there was constantly a
pail OF iced water and drinking cup for the
accommodation of the public, and on account
of the hot weather which then prevailed this
drinking cup passed very frequently from
mouth to mouth. Besides the cases of diph-
liberia which have been enumerated, there
were many cases Of sore throat which were
not considered diphtheritic, but which from
a hygienic point of view it perhaps might
have been safer during an epidemic to have
regarded as such. Still further, the difficulty
OF tracing the course of the contagion from
person to person was the fact that many of
the funerals following the diphtheria deaths
were public, that the Sunday school was
not closed, and that the village school was
not closed until two weeks before my visit
Directions were given to the people in re-
gard to what ought to be done, particularly
emphasizing the need of strict Isolation Of
lie
the sanitary condition of the place, and the
abolition of the public drinking cup from
the store. 1t was further recommended that
they should form local voluntary sanitary
organizatlon at once. These recemmenda-
ions they accepted and put them into opera
ton Immediately. In some cases where the
owner was not able to abate or remove
nulsances, the neighbors turned out and
helped hlm to do it: In the case of the
stable which was within five feet of the din
ing room window fhau hoa for
the owner. The result of this activity in the
right direction was that only one more case
occurred, and that relapse and reappear-
ance OF dlphtheritic symptoms two days
after my visit, in one of the cases which has
already been mentioned"
DIPHTHERIA AT CANTON.
1t was in July also that the epidemic
broke out at Canton. The first cases began
in the school house, of which the report
speaks as follows:
"The school House stands on a knoll
around which on the west and north Whit
ney Brook loses Itself in a Doggy swamp
This swamp lis not more than three or four
rods from the school house. On the west
side of the school house also is the privy not
more than six feet from the school house,
the two windows of which were kept omen
during the hot weather which then prevailed
before the outbreak. The vaults were in
very unsatisfactory condition and the pre-
yailing west wind carried their dangerous
emanations in through the windows. On the
east side of the school house, not more than
two or three rods distant, was a piece of
ground of quarter of an acre of more on
which, in the spring. a large number of
priyy vaults had been emptied and narrowed
in,-not plowed in. The rank, dark green
growth of grain on it showed how liberal
had been the dressing. All the children
who had been attacked at the time of nv
first visit had been attending school. The
first case was seen by the doctor June Goth
and school was not closed until July 2d
The first lchild sick was only three wears
old but was attending the school until her
sickness. and after this the other children
from the same house attended until they
were taken down"
DIPTHTHERIA AT BRUNSWICK.
That part of the report which treats of the
serious state of affairs at Brunswick last
summer is very interesting reading The
Secretary of the Board first visited Bruns-
wick, July 10. He visited it again in Au-
gust and in September. In relation to the
state of affairs there the following tabulated
statements of the deaths in that village for
three years is a sufficient,